Celebrating our Centenarians

With a stable place to live in an EAH Housing apartment-home, many older residents are passing the century milestone. Active lifestyles and close-knit communities are common traits among the centenarians who live in EAH properties. In the management of older-adult housing, EAH uses an ‘aging in place’ model, which focuses on preserving the independence of older adults.

Meet some of the EAH Housing centenarians:

Grace Everhart (pictured at right), a Rodeo Gateway resident, turned 100 in 2011. As a young woman, Ms. Everhart worked at her father’s auto parts store and later found a job at the Lincoln Hotel in Indianapolis, ID, where she met President Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor when they stayed as guests. Ms. Everhart has also fostered over sixty children, many of whom she still “mothers” today. Always looking for new experiences, Ms. Everhart recently enrolled in computer classes and continues to
go for daily walks, stopping often for conversations with
passing neighbors and friendly strangers.

Raphael Ortiz, a resident of Gateway Santa Clara, celebrated his 100th birthday last year with a party at his home. Mr. Ortiz's family, fellow residents at Gateway, and the property's staff all came together to wish him a happy 100th birthday. Lately, Mr. Ortiz has been using his new i-Pad, which is family gave him as a birthday gift, to play Sudoku, read, and keep in touch with friends.

At the EAH community Golden Oaks in Oakley, CA, longtime resident Perry Davis celebrated his 100th birthday in December 2011. His family teamed up with property staff to throw a birthday party for Mr. Davis. Representatives from the City of Oakley were also in attendance, and presented Mr. Davis with a proclamation to commemorate his 100th birthday. Neighbors throughout the Oakley area know Mr. Davis - he goes for daily walks, sometimes making it as far as the town of Brentwood, a 14 mile roundtrip!

Other birthdays from 2011 included Felix Pausto, a Kekaha Plantation Elderly resident, who turned 101; Mary Neumann, a Pt. Reyes Family Homes resident who turned 100; and Cuc Nguyen, a resident of Vista Park Senior Apartments who turned 112.